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The Butterfly Wonderland opened over the Memorial Day weekend just outside of Scottsdale on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa reservation. It is the largest indoor butterfly pavilion in the U.S.Mike Fox, Executive Director of Butterfly Wonderland, explained about the butterfly species, the conditions in the pavilion and why people are so drawn to butterflies.

Opponents of
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio have failed in their bid to recall him. The
deadline to collect the necessary signatures passed Thursday afternoon.
Organizers behind
the recall effort aren’t saying how many signatures they did collect, but they
told elections officials it fell short of the more than 335,000 needed.

A mistake in the 2010 U.S. Census is forcing Yuma officials to alter their proposed budget for the next fiscal year. The Yuma Sun reports the Census mistakenly counted the population of a 2,400-inmate state prison as being in Yuma.

An Arizona bill
mandating transgender people use bathrooms designated for their birth sex is
dead — for now. Congressman John Kavanagh says the proposed measure could be later
revived. The
Republican representative decided to drop the so-called bathroom bill saying
there are concerns in his caucus about some of his proposal’s definitions.

The Arizona
House has passed legislation that would allow school boards to increase local
property taxes.The House
voted thirty one to twenty six to advance House Bill 2399. It would allow
school districts to set bond limits of up to twenty percent of the tax base, up
from the current limit of up to ten percent.

Recently retired Sen. Jon Kyl, who was one of the leaders in the push for immigration reform in 2007, says the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" is in a much better position to pass reform this year.Kyl said climate for reform is much friendlier.

The National Football League is tightening stadium security this season, limiting the size and type of bags fans can bring to the game. The NFL said the restrictions are designed to enhance security while speeding up entry into stadiums.

County elections officials are applauding a sweeping change to Arizona election laws. The measure approved by state lawmakers allows county recorders to remove people who do not regularly show up at the polls from permanent early voting lists.

Four Republican members of Arizona’s congressional delegation have introduced a bill that would allow states to verify a voter’s citizenship status.
Tucson Congressman Ron Barber (KJZZ file photo )
It is a reaction to this week’s U.

Tucson’s new ordinance granting civil unions to same-sex couples goes into effect in a few weeks. The Tucson City Council voted to change the city’s existing domestic partnership ordinance so that it includes civil unions.

Arizona's retail trade
appears to be on the decline. Department
of Economic Security economist Aruna Murthy says it seems like a paradox, that
when sales are up, related jobs are down, but she thinks there are good
reasons,
“We
are finding a lot of the stores we go into, they are either having automatic
checkouts or they’re hiring fewer people,” Murthy said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has cleared the way
for same-sex marriage in California by holding that defenders of
California's gay marriage ban did not have the right to appeal lower
court rulings striking down the ban.

Thousands
of music fans are expected to show up today in east Mesa for a rock concert known as the Warped
Tour. With the temperature predicted to be more than 110 degrees, health and
show officials are advising concert-goers to prepare in advance.

Starting July 1, interest rates for most new government student loans are going up. That is because last week, Congress failed to act to keep rates at their current levels. The change puts hundreds of thousands of Arizona college students in a financial bind.

Weather experts working with fire crews in Yarnell say current forecast shows wind gusts are at about 15 to 20 miles per hour. But they say wind direction and speed could change quickly. It can go as high as 80 miles per hour.

The medical examiners office in Phoenix has released autopsy results for the 19 hotshots who died Sunday in the Yarnell Hill Fire. The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s office performed all 19 autopsies Tuesday and called in extra staff to handle the workload.

The Mesa City Council is scheduled to vote on a $130 million bond issue Monday night. If approved, the proposal would go to voters in a November special election for public safety and road improvements.

Recent rains and higher humidity are allowing forest
officials in northern Arizona to relax
restrictions in the Coconino and Kaibab
National Forests. Spokesman
Brady Smith says that'll give people using the forests some leeway.

James Arthur Ray is set to be released Friday from the Arizona State Prison system. Ray was found guilty in 2011 of three counts of negligent homicide following a sweat lodge ceremony. The charges stemmed from a sweat lodge ceremony hosted by Ray, near Sedona, in October of 2009.

Construction
has been completed on a new federal courthouse in downtown Yuma. The building
is named after the judge who was killed in the Tucson shooting rampage. A grand
opening ceremony for the John M.